Prep track: Season may be over for the Branson School's Maxwell

It was about this time last track and field season when The Branson School's superb junior distance runner Julia Maxwell started hitting her peak.

But, instead of hitting a peak this season, Maxwell might have hit a wall.

After a decent, but still disappointing time — by her standards, anyway — at the recent Arcadia Invitational women's 3,200 meters, Maxwell was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her foot near her toes.

"I've had a recurring problem with a growth plate in my foot near my toes and I had some pain leading up to the race. But I thought that was just because I was irritating it," said Maxwell, the defending Division V state cross country champion and fourth-place finisher in the 3,200 meters at state last season. "But as it turned out, it was the beginning of a stress fracture. I was still able to run a decent time, but basically I was running with a fracture. I guess my toe didn't like the pounding it took."

The injury has left Maxwell pondering the fate of her season. She has no choice except to rest the foot — and hope it gets better.

"I don't want to run hard on it again until it's fully recovered," Maxwell said. "For now, I'm just going to swim and cross train until it's healthy."

Before her setback, Maxwell was on the fast track — and fast is the operative word — to a stellar season.

At the Stanford Invitational last month, Maxwell ran a 4:55 mile, the second fastest time in Marin County history behind only Branson assistant track coach Linda Gill.

"I had such a great race at Stanford "... and the next week my foot started bothering me a little bit," said Maxwell, who owns the top 1,600 and 3,200 times in the North Coast Section this season.

Branson head track coach Malik Ali has watched the dedication and determination his distance star has displayed for three seasons. But he remains confident the setback might keep Maxwell down, but definitely not out.

"The Arcadia injury is a frustration for Julia this season, to be sure," Ali said. "But she'll be back pushing the standard before too long."

Of course, the lingering question in Maxwell's mind is when?

She has no idea. Only time will tell.

"I'm not sure yet when I can run again," she said. "It's not as serious as a stress fracture of say the heel or the arch. And if you're young, you heal more quickly."

Maxwell is doing her best to stay positive at this point — but the reality of her situation could be dire, at least as far as the remainder of this season is concerned.

"Worried? Yeah, I'm worried," she said. "I definitely want to be able to run again this season. But there's a high probability I won't be able to. But even if I can't run, I want to stay motivated and stay positive; try to have positive thoughts and not count anything out."

Maxwell stays upbeat by keeping the situation in perspective. She keeps reminding herself even if this season is lost she still has another year of high school and a promising college career to look forward to.

"I have had a lot of success up to this point and I hope to have a good season next year," she said. "The most important thing right now is that it heals completely and it doesn't turn into a nagging injury into the future."

Maxwell plans to attend a Division I college, although she is not close to a decision yet as to which one.

For now, however, she's at the mercy of her body's healing powers.

"I just have to do all the right recovery things and not do anything bad to it," she said. "Basically, however fast the toe wants to heal, it will heal.

"Sure, it's hard to deal with. Running is the thing I'm most passionate about. I get excited about going to practice everyday."

So, she's dealing with the injury the best she can.

"If I have to sit if I'm out, I will just try to stay positive and go cheer my teammates on and try to stay sane," Maxwell said. "I will look head and cross bridges when I get there.